


Please Don't Send Me Back

by CastielFollowMe



Series: Single Dad Shiro Verse [43]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst, Anxiety, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, Panic Attacks, mentions of adoption
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-10
Updated: 2017-02-10
Packaged: 2018-09-23 06:30:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,440
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9644450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielFollowMe/pseuds/CastielFollowMe
Summary: Lance meant it as a joke, but Keith can't help but take him seriously when he told Keith that Shiro could "Return" him for getting a bad grade in school.





	

**Author's Note:**

> Prompt: "Dad Shiro AU HC that first grader Keith gets a C in one of his subjects like probably from forgetting to turn work in or something but when Shiro finds out Keith hides from him and is super upset thinking Shiro is going to take him back to the orphanage."

   “What’d you get on that last big Math Test?” Lance asked as soon as Keith had finished zipping up his backpack to head home for the day. He was a bit more tired than usual, having had a harder time concentrating all throughout the day. He wondered if this was how Lance always felt.

               “Why?” Keith asked when the two headed out of their classroom. The two six-year-olds were to wait for Hunk and Pidge by the front parking lot and then the four would wait together until Shiro picked them all up to bring them home. Lance had often tried to leave his first grade classroom, in order to wander around until he found Hunk’s and Pidge’s so he could join them and feel like a big kid. Needless to say, the second grade teacher and Lance’s teacher got to know each other well, after so many of Lance’s escapes. Sometimes Keith would tag along with Lance, but more often than not he didn’t care too much about leaving. He would see Hunk and Pidge at lunch and at recess and that was god enough for him.

               “’Cause, I got a B! The first one all year! Mom’s gonna be so proud. Maybe she and dad will throw me a big party with lots of cake and ice cream and - ooh confetti! That would be so much fun! I bet they’re going to be real proud of me.” Lance babbled excitedly, flapping his arms wildly. Keith easily avoided his friend’s wild arms and continued walking with a small snort.

               “I doubt that’s a real reason for a party, but congratulations.” Keith replied sincerely. Lance frowned for a second but ignored the other boy. He was far too happy to let anything dampen his mood right now.

               “That’s right. This is my greatest achievement. Do you think mom will put it on the fridge?” Lance asked with bright eyes and a large smile.

               “Your mom puts _everything_ on the fridge.” Keith said.

               “Doesn’t Shiro do that?” Lance frowned at Keith’s unenthusiastic response. He knew that Keith wasn’t one to express his emotions to the extremes that Lance did, but he had hoped the other boy would have been somewhat more excited for him.

               “Sometimes. I don’t know why though. It’s usually only my drawings, but I don’t know why that means anything.” Keith cocked his head in confusion while Lance snicker. The two small first graders stopped at the end of the sidewalk, waiting for Hunk and Pidge to show up.

               “Duh. It means you acom-plish something.” Lance stated in a tone that signified this was,a matter of fact.  Keith frowned. Lance pushed his Math test in Keith’s face, to which Keith scowled and swatted at it. There in bright green pen was a signature smiley face with a letter B. “It means you are actually good at something and not stupid.”

               “I’m not stupid, and that’s not a nice thing to say.” Keith reprimanded Lance, remembering what his father had always taught him about saying mean things. Lance laughed and pulled his test close to his chest; hugging it as if it were the greatest gift in the world. “Seriously though, what did you get? I bet it’s another A.”

               Keith swallowed at this before pulling his own graded test back. He looked at the top of the page, where in bright red ink, stood one letter.

               The letter C.

               With no smiley face.

               Before Keith had a chance to hide the paper, it was snatched out of his hands. Keith yelped when Lance pulled the paper high above Keith’s head in order to read. Keith growled and jumped, trying to get his test back but Lance’s height had an advantage for once.

               “Give it back! Give it back! That’s mine!” Keith yelled as he reached for his test. However, Lance merely laughed and held the test higher and his eyes widened.

               “A C?! You got a C?!” Lance cried a bit too loudly and Keith scowled. He huffed when it looked to be impossible to grab his test and he crossed his arms over his chest instead. It was times like these that Keith wondered why he was friends with Lance. “That’s even lower than _me!”_ Lance laughed again.

               “Stop it. It’s not bad!” Keith argued when Lance only continued to laugh.

               “Not for me, but that’s ‘cause I _always_ get Cs. You’re supposed to be _better_ than that.” Lance cried out and burst into a new round of laughter. Despite the angry look on Keith’s face, he was actually feeling quite nervous on the inside. Lance’s words were getting to him more than he wanted to admit. _Was it really that bad?_ “Better be careful, if you keep getting bad grades then Shiro might think about _returning_ you.”

               Keith felt his heart sink at the thought and his face paled.

               It was no secret that Keith was adopted. Shiro had set him down earlier this year and explained to him what the word, _adoption_ meant. It took a few hours but he was sure to explain that just because Keith was adopted didn’t make him any less of Shiro’s son; that Shiro wouldn’t love him any less. Shiro explained that it was a blessing to adopt Keith because he wouldn’t have had him otherwise. For the most part, Keith understood and appreciated his dad’s honesty. However, his anxiety had gone up only a little at the thought that his dad might bring him back to the orphanage like his parents had.

               The idea that his dad _might_ want to bring him back because of bad grades terrified Keith.

               “What are you talking about?” Pidge asked when they and Hunk finally met up with Lance and Keith. Keith was momentarily thankful when Hunk grabbed his test out of Lance’s hands (who whined pitifully) and handed it back to Keith with a small smile. He smiled back even though his insides were shaking with nerves.

               “Nothing.” Keith said quickly and moved away when Shiro met up with the group. His friends dropped the conversation for now as everyone greeted Keith’s dad.

                _Maybe he doesn’t have to know._

x.V.x

               Shiro found out.

               Keith had hid his test from Shiro by folding up his test and stuffing it in one of the deeper pockets of his shorts. On the ride home, Lance immediately looked for praise from Shiro about his test score. Of course, Shiro praised and congratulated Lance with a bright smile and a proud look in his eyes. Then he asked Keith about his test, but Keith managed to answer that it went good. The conversation was soon switched as Hunk asked Shiro about his last trip to Hawaii.

               After that the test was forgotten and even Keith forgot all about it.

               He threw his pants in the hallway to be put in the wash with the rest of the load by Shiro. It was when Keith was happily brushing his teeth, all by himself, did Shiro find the test. He was putting Keith’s clothes into the washer, checking his pockets for anything (Keith often tended to leave stress balls, papers, toys and other items in his pockets) when he came across the folded piece of paper. Opening it, Shiro realized this was Keith’s math test and frowned.

               “Keith? Why’s your math test folded up in your pockets? Shouldn’t it have been in your backpack?” Shiro called down the hall, where the bathroom door was open.

               Keith paused after spitting out the toothpaste and froze. His eyes widened while his hands shook at the thought that Shiro had _found_ his test score. Lance’s words were beginning to creep back into Keith’s mind. His heart began to race.

_Better be careful, if you keep getting bad grades then Shiro might think about returning you._

                _Return you._

_Shiro’s going to return you._

               While Keith and Shiro never sat down to talk about the importance of grades, Keith knew grades had to be big with his dad. His dad was extremely smart and was told by his grandfather that Shiro was in the top of his class at the military. That meant his dad _had_ to be extremely smart and intelligence mattered.

               Keith feared that if he wasn’t considered _smart_ to his dad, then what use could he be? Could his dad really return him to find someone smarter than him? Better than him?

               “Keith?”

               Keith jumped a foot in the air, toothpaste still all over his lips when he heard his dad beginning to walk down the hall. _Oh no, he’s going to return me! Dad’s mad and he’s going to send me back!_

               Even though Keith didn’t remember his time at an orphanage, he’d seen enough movies to know that they were _never_ good. Keith didn’t want to live like that. He wanted to stay with his dad, with Red.

               Panicking Keith flung open the cabinets under the sink before crawling inside and quietly shutting them close. _He can’t return me if he can’t find me._ Keith silently reasoned. He pulled his knees right up to his chest and hunched underneath the pipes under the sink. His nose wrinkled at the smell of disinfectant but Keith pushed himself further back into the cabinet when his dad’s footsteps stopped outside of the bathroom doorway. Keith’s heart stopped when Red’s footsteps followed and she sniffed around the bathroom.

               “Keith?” Shiro frowned; test still in hand, when he found no sight of his son in the bathroom. He felt the familiar tingling of paranoia creeping behind his skin but Shiro forced it down as Red stepped next to him. Keith’s toothbrush was still sitting on the countertop and his little stool was still here. The lights were still on, which meant Keith _couldn’t_ have left.

               “Keith? Where did you go?” Shiro stepped into the empty bathroom and Red proceeded to sniff the floor. She wandered to the bathtub and around the toilet before sniffing the sink cabinet. “Keith? Are you hiding?” Shiro swallowed and Red sniffed the cabinet doors.

               Red made a small huffing noise as she proceeded to sniff the cabinet doors, causing Shiro to look over there. She barked lightly once and nuzzled at the handles on the door. She continued to sniff and nuzzle until her snout caught one of the handles and opened the cabinet. Instantly, she pressed her entire head into the cabinet and barked once more.

               Shiro knelt down next to her, opening the other door and was met face to face with a small, scared Keith. Shiro’s heart ached at the terrified look on Keith’s face and he couldn’t understand why Keith was so scared. Shiro quickly gave Red a soft pat and she sat on her hind legs behind him.

               “Good girl.” He praised before turning his focus to Keith.

               Keith was still attempting to crawl back into the cabinet even further, however the solid back of the cabinet was preventing much movement.

               “Keith? What’s wrong buddy? Why are you afraid?” Shiro asked softly, keeping his voice level and calm. He saw familiar tears pricking in Keith’s eyes and his chest squeezed. “Keith?”

               “I’m sorry! Please don’t bring me back!” Keith burst out into tears immediately, startling Shiro. Shiro instantly dropped the test on the floor and reached in to grab Keith. With some awkward maneuvering he pulled Keith into his arms, and pulled him out of the cabinet. There Shiro sat back with Keith on his lap and Red licking his face.

               “What? Keith what are you talking about?” Shiro asked, brushing a thumb under Keith’s eye.

               “Please don’t bring me back to the orphanage! I promise I’ll be smarter! I promise I can do better!” Keith cried again, desperately clinging to Shiro’s shirt. Shiro swallowed thickly.

               “Keith? Why on Earth would you think that I would _ever_ bring you back to the orphanage?” Shiro was starting to regret telling Keith that he was adopted. _Maybe it was too soon._

               “My test score. It was a C! I’m sorry!” Keith said as if that explained everything.

               “Why does it matter that you got a C?” Shiro frowned.

               “Because C’s aren’t smart! And you don’t want a son who’s not smart because you’re the smartest person in the _world!”_ Keith sniffled.

               “Keith, no. That’s not true.”

               “Please don’t bring me back. I want to stay with you.” And if Keith’s little, scared voice wasn’t enough, he was staring at Shiro with those big blue eyes of his full of _terror._

               “Keith,” Shiro sighed softly and shifted Keith in his lap. “I am _never,_ ever going to bring you back. You’re my son, now and forever and I wouldn’t want _anyone_ else but my Keith. You’re my baby and nothing is ever going to change that.”

               Keith’s lower lip wobbled. “You’re not going to bring me back?”

               “Never. You’re my son, forever.” Shiro promised softly as he linked his own pinky with one of Keith’s. Keith had to smile timidly at the familiar promise.

               “But, I got a bad grade?” Keith argued.

               “Keith. Did you try your hardest?” Shiro asked instead, much to Keith’s surprise. Slowly he nodded.

               “Yes. But I couldn’t concentrate with the humming next to me and the numbers were all mixed up and – ”

               “But you tried your hardest, right?”

               Keith nodded.

               “Then that’s all that matters to me. Your actual grades aren’t important as long as you try. _Everyone_ gets a bad grade and that’s okay. One letter does not dictate your intelligence.” Shiro said firmly and Keith blinked. “You know, I got worse grades than a C before.”

               Keith’s little gasp made Shiro laugh.

               “Yup. I got an _F_ before.” Shiro laughed even harder when Keith gasped once more, hands flying to cover his mouth. Shiro gently rubbed his nose against Keith’s earning a small giggle from his son, who eagerly rubbed against Shiro’s nose too.

               “Please don’t feel like you have to hide things from me.” Shiro whispered, stroking Keith’s cheek. “It’s okay if you get C’s. If it’s an issue, we’ll find a way to help you get better and improve. _Together.”_

               “You won’t ever return me?”

               “Never. You and I are stuck together like glue buddy.” Keith’s nose wrinkled at the analogy but decided not to comment on it and instead snuggled into his dad’s chest. Shiro grinned down at him and gave his hair a small pet. “By the way, why did you ever think I would return you?”

               “Lance.” Keith shrugged and Shiro exhaled in understanding.

               “You know, 90% of what Lance tells you probably isn’t true.”

               “No.”

               “Really?”

               “It’s more like 93%.”


End file.
